All-Purpose Nova Suspension Tuned For The Track Or Street

It's been about two years now, and our lethargic grandma six-banger Nova has been almost completely transformed into a heavyweight street fighter. Yes, it's still ugly, but we made quick work of our blue beauty, swapping out the less-than-impressive engine and transmission, lest we pop the hood and suffer being chastised by fellow enthusiasts. Originally, our intentions were for straight-line performance, not necessarily all-out handling. Out came the tractor engine and Powerglide. In its place went a slightly used small-block along with some boost complements: Weiand's 142 supercharger and a used Turbo 350 automatic transmission.

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After the powertrain was situated we moved on to creating a real driver's car-one with more roadworthy characteristics-turning to Classic Performance Products of Placentia, California, who are well versed with Novas and their ability to blaze through corners. To begin, CPP swapped in its large 11/8-inch-diameter front sway bar and 7/8-inch-diameter rear bar. The shocks were replaced with Bilstein units from CPP. Later, the manual front drums were swapped in favor of their power disc brake assemblies, including forged 2-inch drop spindles loaded with 11-inch disc brakes and a power brake booster. The rear was restored with a rebuild drum package and lowering rear leaf kit.

Our initial testing revealed a nice surprise. The Nova remained somewhat flat through the slalom and manageable during repeated 60-0 braking. Still, performance was marginal at best-definitely room for improvement. For this install, we've landed all new upper and lower tubular control arms, a big-brake kit for the front and rear, and all new adjustable QA1 coilovers for the front and shocks out back-all from CPP.

At CPP's headquarters, Craig Chaffers shredded into the underguts of the front suspension to create a sled with more tunability and serious braking power. Don't worry, we'll have the full test numbers, including slalom, skidpad, and braking in a future issue. In the meantime we've made plans to attend a majority of the Goodguys autocross events on the West Coast. Follow along as we show how it was done and what makes CPP's components a cut above the rest.

Armed Arsenal
Supplying the suspension with strength
was left to CPP's upper and lower
tubular A-arms; the added rigidity
means less flex, which translates into
a much nimbler vehicle that's easy
to predict and control. The lower
control arms feature a helical stamped
coil mount with an integral shock
mount. The upper control arms are
preassembled on new billet chromoly
4130 cross-shafts and pivot sleeves.
CPP has also created a safety feature
in the interlocking shaft and sleeve
design, which prevents the bolts from
working loose, even under severe stress
created by hard cornering. The arms
also feature exclusive pivot bushings
with a patented self-lubricating plastic
that will not squeak or break, and will
work in temperatures of over 400
degrees.

QA1 Coilover Assembly
The key to any all-purpose street-burner like our Nova project is adjustability. Coilovers allow us to fine-tune the suspension in a moment's notice; as track conditions change and as the Nova evolves with different components, it will enable us to make quick adjustments to things like ride height and shock valving accordingly. CPP's QA1 kit (PN GMP13) includes a set of conical springs designed so that the lower end sits on the coilover shock and the upper end sits in the original spring bucket of the frame. This allows for the use of a longer and lighter spring for more stored energy, offering increased weight transfer. Greater durability is also achieved by locating the spring pressure in the frame and not on a single stud. The threaded aluminum body allows ride height adjustment and boasts an easy bolt-in installation. The system includes Promo Star coilover shocks, specially designed conical springs, and all mounting hardware.

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Drop Spindles
For that hard-hitting stance, we also installed a new set of 2-inch forged drop spindles (PN CP3100). Its unique design lowers your ride 2 inches and allows the use of the stock steering arm with the factory 11-inch single-piston disc brakes. Also, it's the only drop spindle on the market designed to work with CPP's 12- or 13-inch big brake kits without modifying the spindle. The spindle is 1045 forged alloy steel, precision-ground and machined to perfection. Note: The factory disc brake bracket requires minor modification to eliminate the dust shields and will not work with drum brakes. We should also mention that this will work with most 15-inch disc brake wheels that do not exceed a 4-inch backspace.

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Big Brake Kit
CPP not only prides itself in providing great all-in-one suspension packages but has also introduced its own line of 13-inch front big brake kits. For this build, we went ahead with the front and rear system (PN 6874FRBKBB) as a complete package. The 13-inch front system uses a 13-inch cross-drilled, gas-slotted, and zinc-washed rotor, all mounted to a 2024 T6 billet aluminum CNC-machined anodized hub and a PBR C15 caliper. It all attaches to the spindle with a pair of custom CPP caliper mounting brackets. PBR C15 calipers have twin 52mm pistons and a larger brake pad surface area that offers about 60 percent more stopping power in the caliper than the popular C5 caliper-at half the cost! All kits come complete and include the calipers, hoses, bearings, seals, mounting brackets, and hardware. You also get the option of purchasing the front and rear systems individually. If you opt for this system, the big brake kits do require 17-inch wheels. (CPP offers easy-to-use wheel templates upon request.)

A father and son project 1965 Nova snowballs into something far nicer than they had ever imagined. This stunning blue Chevy, with a 383 stroker and TCI suspension, is as nice to look at as it is fun to drive.

We start work on a very rusted and worn-out 1963 Chevy II in an effort to turn it into a badass street car. This time around we’re replacing the quarter-panels and rear panel with new pieces from Golden Star Classic Auto Parts.